We have to be prepared, lest if there is another wave, we will be hit
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The COVID-19 pandemic in various countries around the world is increasingly easing, as well as the situation in Indonesia which shows a consistently decreasing trend of active cases over the last 6 months.
The Indonesian Ministry of Health's report stated that the pandemic indicators, among others, were measured by the weekly trend of confirmed cases which decreased by 21.1 percent with the number of cases initially ranging from 4,078 findings to 2,507 cases.
In the case of death also decreased by 13.04 percent. The occupancy rate of patient care beds in hospitals also decreased significantly, from 6.23 percent to 5.32 percent.
Based on the results of a serosurvey to measure the antibody levels of the Indonesian people on resistance to the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 in June 2022, it reached 98 percent.
People have antibodies with varying levels, so it is important to get a booster or booster dose of vaccination in order to maintain the benefits of antibodies in order to reduce the chance of serious illness and even death.
These indicators show that the endemic phase is just one step away. The level of immunity and herd immunity is one of the important indicators that the World Health Organization (WHO) pays attention to to end the pandemic.
So far, more than 204.3 million or equivalent to 87.08 percent of Indonesian people have received the first dose of vaccination, the second dose is around 170.9 million or equivalent to 72.85 percent and the third dose is 62.7 million or 26.72 percent of the total population. COVID-19 vaccination targets were 234,666,020 people.
Seeing that the percentage of the population who has received booster vaccines is still relatively low, the scope of the COVID-19 booster vaccination must continue to be pursued, especially in areas where coverage is still low. The Ministry of Health encourages regional heads to continue to carry out COVID-19 vaccinations in collaboration with various parties.
Vaccination centers in public places and efforts to pick up the ball need to be re-enforced, such as during the homecoming season in April 2022 to bring vaccination services closer to the community.
By the end of the year, it is targeted that 50 percent of Indonesians have been vaccinated with boosters to create communal immunity.
Boost vaccination
The Indonesian Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, predicts that the immunity of the Indonesian people will decline in early 2023, so a vaccination acceleration strategy is needed which is targeted to penetrate 100 million participants next year.
This strategy needs to be implemented to anticipate a surge in cases from a new wave that has the potential to come suddenly because the virus mutation process occurs naturally and persists in the community for a long time even though the pandemic is declared over.
"We have to be prepared, lest if there is another wave, we will be hit," he said.
If you look at the rate of injections for COVID-19 vaccination in the country, it currently shows an average downward trend of 65,645 injections per day since August 2022. In fact, vaccination coverage in April 2022 has almost penetrated 1.4 million injections per day.
Acceleration of vaccination needs to be done so that there are more areas where the coverage of the three vaccinations is above 50 percent. Because since it started on January 22, 2022, only the Provinces of Bali, DKI Jakarta, and the Riau Islands have achieved this target.
Bali occupies the highest position with a percentage of 69.8 percent, DKI Jakarta with 66.0 percent, and the Riau Islands with 52.1 percent.
Until now, the vaccination acceleration strategy initiated by the Ministry of Health has not been fully published to the public. However, some of the patterns that were applied during the 2022 Lebaran homecoming agenda were confirmed to be re-adopted. Booster
vaccination as a travel requirement with the involvement of TNI-Polri elements effectively boosts the rate of injection. Even with the pick-up strategy, it can reach the RT and RW levels, markets, to public spaces through the involvement of posyandu cadres and local sub-district and village officials. The Ministry of Health conveyed its commitment to maintaining the availability of COVID-19 vaccines in the country by purchasing domestic vaccine production Indovac from Bio Farma and Inavac from PT Biotis Pharmaceuticals Indonesia next year.
Pharmaceutical BUMN PT Bio Farma (Persero) is ready to produce 20 million doses of Indovac vaccine, for the initial stage. This number can be increased to 40 million doses per year by 2023 with the addition of production facilities.
Furthermore, the production capacity can be increased again to 100 million doses per year by 2024, depending on the needs and demands.
Meanwhile, Biotis agreed to cover the need for vaccines that include boosters for adults, adolescents, and children who are now left in Indonesia. The booster
vaccination at the age of 18 has only covered 30 percent of the target target of 141,211,000 people so that there are still 98 million people who have not received the booster vaccine . As for booster vaccinations
Teenagers aged 12-17 years with a target number of 26,705,490 people have not started in Indonesia. The booster vaccination for children aged 7-11 years with a target number of 26,400,300 has not yet started. The pharmaceutical company's downstream
production capacity is capable of producing up to 20 million doses per month. However, specifically in the early stages, it will be increased to 5 million doses per month. Emergency status Epidemiologist from the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia ( FKM -UI) Pandu Riono and Iwan Ariawan agreed that Indonesia is now ready to leave the health emergency situation.
The implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) is one indicator of a health emergency situation in the country that needs to be lifted first by the government, if the domestic pandemic situation is considered to be fully under control.
The PPKM indicators in Indonesia are currently all at Level 1, which is an easing of population mobility. This takes into account the community transmission and response capacity of COVID-19, which shows controlled indicators since September 21, 2022.
The incidence of cases in Indonesia is around 5.56 per 100,000 population per week or is at Level 1 community transmission indicators.
The incidence of hospitalization at the hospital reached 0.79 per 100,000 population per week or was at community transmission Level 1. Even death was at 0.04 per 100,000 population per week at Level 1. The positivity rate
indicator based on testing reached 7.16 percent per week or still above the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of a maximum of 5 percent of the total population. The tracing indicator is at an adequate response capacity with a close contact ratio of 11.36 percent per week or is at a moderate level. The treatment indicator reaches an average of 5.26 percent per week.
The revocation of the PPKM is expected to make people believe that COVID-19 is no longer a frightening disease, because all facilities and infrastructure such as hospital care installations, health workers, medicines, and vaccines are all available. In Indonesia, there are two emergency
statuses set by the government related to the pandemic, namely Presidential Decree No. 11 of 2020 concerning the Establishment of a COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Presidential Decree No. 12 of 2020 concerning Determination of Non-Natural Disasters Spreading COVID-19 as a National Disaster. The two policies were taken by the Government of Indonesia referring to the determination of the status of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) called Public Health Emergency International
Concern ( PHEIC ) which has been in effect since January 30, 2020.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus previously mentioned that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic was imminent. This metaphorical sentence needs to be addressed by the community by remaining vigilant by maintaining health protocols that are not slack.
So, keep wearing a mask when traveling outside the house and in a closed room. The downward trend in daily confirmed cases, deaths, and hospital occupancy needs to be maintained in order to keep it under control.
Coordination and collaboration of all components of the nation from the central to the regional levels is the key to keeping the pandemic situation under control so that endemic indicators can be achieved.
Tags:
ASIA EAST UPDATE